16. 1912

Complete story — includes the ending

In 1912, Zachariah Salvatore, a council member is murdered in the same way they have been in present day. Flash forward, Alaric has been put into jail by the Sheriff after Meredith said he came at her with a knife and she had to shoot him. The present-day murders in Mystic Falls remind Damon of a similar crime spree a century earlier. In flashbacks to 1912, Stefan and Damon attend Zachariah's funeral and learn he was not the first council member murdered. Rebekah searches for the White Oak tree in town and she needs the Salvatores to find it. Damon recalls a beautiful vampire, named Sage ( Cassidy Freeman ). Elena questions Meredith, who reveals she knows more about Alaric's past than Elena does. Elena and Matt break into Meredith's apartment and find a secret box of files on the Council members. Sage shows Damon a whole new way to exist: a woman is not only a prey, but also a pleasure. Matt and Elena find a Gilbert journal that belonged to the original Jonathan Gilbert's granddaughter, but Meredith came home before they could search more and she catches them. Rebekah and Damon follow Stefan as Damon feeds on a girl, trying to force him into feeding on a woman in order to learn how to fight his urges. Elena and Matt find Stefan feeding on the woman but Matt pulls her away. Elena and Matt go back to her house, where Matt gives her back the Gilbert journal. Alaric is released from jail after the coroner's office sends an error about time of death. In 1912, Damon convinces Stefan to drink human blood, but Stefan kills the woman and turns into a Ripper. In present time, Damon pledges to help Stefan in a way he did not in the past. Stefan reveals Samantha Gilbert confessed to the murders in 1922, but Damon says he already had killed her. Meredith comes to explain herself to Alaric, saying that it was him that committed the murders all because of the Gilbert ring.